Educational Placement Volunteer (Refugee Support Placement Volunteer - Shef

at  British Red Cross Volunteer

Placement Volunteers at the British Red Cross are highly valued for the skills and energy they bring. We aim to provide our placement volunteers with an insight into the daily workings of the world’s largest humanitarian organisation. The successful candidate will have access to relevant in-house training and development opportunities during their placement. There may be some ad hoc opportunities to get involved in other areas of activity. Your role as a placement volunteer will help make a great contribution to the work of the British Red Cross. You will take responsibility for achieving specific objectives that are agreed with you within one of the various departments across the UK. You will have a real responsibility and place in the department, bringing some of your skills and experience to the role; you will also have the chance to develop workplace skills. While we don’t offer voluntary internships, we are happy for you to describe yourself as an intern on your CV, if you feel that would be helpful. The expected placement start date is 3 March 2025 and the placement will run for approximately 3 months. The normal placement hours will be Tuesdays to Thursdays, 9am to 5pm. The placement location between will be hybrid between volunteer’s home and the the British Red Cross office in Sheffield (S9 2RX). We are looking for a placement volunteer who will be able to volunteer for 3 days per week for 3 months. You will be part of our South Yorkshire refugee support team based in Sheffield. You will be providing support to vulnerable migrants through effective triage, casework and advocacy. Our casework placement Volunteers work one-to-one with refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants at a time which many will find difficult and distressing. We help to make sure people have choices and opportunities available to them to move forward with their lives in a new country. We are looking for empathetic placement Volunteers to help people access the vital services and opportunities they need. Volunteers will be supporting vulnerable clients over the phone, via email and in person at our fortnightly Sheffield based drop in and office based face to face appointments. You will enjoy being part of a supportive team, who will guide and train you to develop the skills you need to become one of our Casework Volunteers. You will start by shadowing and supporting experienced Caseworkers to develop your learning and understanding of how to provide appropriate support to service users, for example this may include; advice on asylum support, destitution, accommodation, accessing legal support, education and healthcare, signposting where appropriate and agreeing a plan of action to help people access their rights and entitlements. Are you passionate about supporting people in crisis? We are looking for empathetic and professional placement volunteers to help people access the vital services and opportunities they need. You will enjoy being part of a supportive team, working to a high level of accuracy and attention to detail and dealing with complex and personal information. Due to the intensity and complexity of parts of our services, it is essential that our placement volunteers work to the highest standards so that we can provide a safe, high quality and effective service. Typical tasks include; - Giving one to one support to people e.g. advice on asylum support, accommodation and healthcare, - Leading sensitive conversations and interviews with people to assess their needs as part of triage and comprehensive casework appointments, - Agreeing a plan of action to help people access their rights and entitlements, - Using your Red Cross training to give emotional support to adults and children, - Maintaining client databases - Referring people to other support services e.g. mental health and loneliness support, - Working effectively with interpreters as well as people from the Home Office and other charities, - Identifying and responding appropriately to safeguarding and protection issues. Due to the nature of this role, applicants must undergo an Enhanced with Children barred Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, so you must have the necessary 3 forms of identification. We would like volunteers who; - Have strong communication skills and empathetic about the situation and needs of refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants, - Are able to volunteer in a multicultural environment, - Are emotionally resilient as you may need to deal with challenging or difficult situations - Previous experience of face to face client work or casework would be helpful - Speak English; knowledge of another language would be helpful (particularly one used in the current local refugee population), - Keep the people we support at the heart of what you do. Bursary Scheme The British Red Cross offers a bursary scheme to those placement volunteers from low-income households. Eligibility will be determined through a separate application process open to all short-listed candidates. All British Red Cross volunteers are entitled to out-of-pocket reasonable expenses. For this scheme we are defining low-income households as: Inside London: Living with family or partner £25,000 or under. Living independently £22.500 or under Outside London: Living with family or partner £18,500 or under. Living independently £16,500 or under
Why we want you: We need educational placement volunteers to help us support people in crisis.
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Tasks: Admin tasks
Supporting your line manager with service-based tasks
See advert for specific tasks
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Skills: Good communication skills
Good interpersonal skills
Reliable and organised
See advert description for further skills requirements
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Benefits: The opportunity to share your skills and knowledge to help people in your community
The opportunity to develop your existing skills, whilst gaining new skills and experience within the voluntary sector
Training provided with ongoing personal development
Reimbursement of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses
An opportunity to be part of the world’s largest humanitarian organisation and the knowledge that you are making a difference to people’s lives.

Please refer the Job description for details